I was a little skeptical about starting this book, as it is a non-fiction and those can sometimes be kinda "dry" reading. But this book reads like a fiction. The author spend 9 months in a 5th grade classroom observing and researching so that the "story" would be accurate and portray the realities of America's public school system. Although this book was written in the 80's I have a feeling not much has changed in our school systems. Fist, whenever a bill comes before congress to improve our schooling system, it is shot down. Second, any changes that have been made are made at local school levels. Are some schools better then others...you bet. But in general, we really need to do some educational revamping in our country to remain competitive in our world. (IMHO)